Anna Rowley - The Landing

​Anna Rowley

The Landing
self-released; 2025

​​​​By ​Dino DiMuro​

Anna Rowley is a singer-songwriter from Otago, New Zealand with a lovely voice and songs to match! Her previous album “Radiate” was rapturously reviewed on Pitch Perfect in 2021, which she now follows up with The Landing.

As a writer, Rowley explains that she “strives to write songs that connect to listeners through the use of interesting melodies and dynamics, while matching the sound with lyrics that evoke (an) emotional response.” Though not necessarily a Covid album, Rowley hopes to provide observations of human behavior on both an intimate scale as well as within large populations (like during the global pandemic!). She asks: “How was it that we were all looking at the same picture but seeing such vastly different things?” 

Living and creating in the beautiful southern alps of New Zealand for 20 years, Rowley has recently formed a backing band that’s been performing for appreciative locals.  However, all playing on this album was by Rowley and her producer Danny Fairley, which is quite a feat! The music ranges from acoustic folk to stomping blues, mainly featuring guitar and piano with an occasional banjo. All recording was completed under the guidance of Danny Fairly at Mirrors Audio in Wawea Flat, New Zealand.

“Bojangles” provides an interesting start to the album: it’s not a cover of “Mr. Bojangles” (made famous by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) but more a rumination on the real-life story written by Jerry Jeff Walker. The chiming picked acoustic, accordion-like backings and roomy drums would fit nicely on a Nitty Gritty album. Rowley’s voice is crystalline, sincere and seemingly flawless. Speaking of old-timey folk, “Will to Trust” is a snappy banjo tune with a lively one-two beat and a full page of socially conscious lyrics that sadly ring true: “What a tragedy if we saw our nation broke beyond repair / When we had it all and let it fall…”

“Rise” is one of the “stomping blues” tracks Rowley promised, and it sounds amazingly full for just two players (probably helped by the overdriven organ that jumps back and forth across the speakers). Producer Fairly pushes the mix almost to over-saturation; it makes for an interesting contrast to the folky “Right on Time” which has a Stevie Nicks Fleetwood Mac feel in the vocals, lyrics and backing tracks (especially the dramatic middle section). “Water Tonight” features doo-wop acoustic piano with descending chords that suggest water cascading down! I love these two lines: “Tell me why don’t we go to the water tonight… Let me stand in the pouring rain, it’s washing my tears away.”

“Shaky Isles” takes us back to jug band territory with acoustic guitar, banjo and accordion acting as a comforting blanket for Rowley’s eerily perfect vocals. “In a place” has a similar arrangement but in a darker key, with some of the wailing, eerie power of Sophie and Alex Dorsten. “The Landing” ends the album on a nicely stripped down note, starting with just strummed electric guitar and Rowley’s vocals. I was quite intrigued by Rowley’s lyrical conception of what “landing” can mean. In this final iteration, Rowley’s voice recalls the great Dar Williams. 

Nine songs and not a bad one in the bunch. That’s a recommendation!

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